Drawer locking mechanism



y my 1951 c. M. ABRAHAMSON DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed April 6, 1948 INVENTOR.

July 10, 1951 c. M. ABRAHAMSON DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM 2 sheets-sheet 2Filed April 6, 1948 v JNVENTOR.

Patented July 10, 1951 DRAWER LOCKING MECHANISM Charles M. Abrahamson,Aurora, 111., assignor to All-Steel Equipment Inc., a, corporation ofIllinois Application April 6, 1948, Serial No. 19,232

1 Claim.

This invention relates to mechanisms for looking desk drawers.

An important object of the invention is to provide novel drawer-lockingmeans for desks.

Another object is to provide a desk having a novel locking mechanismwhich may be pre-set to lock the desk drawers.

A further object is to provide a pedestal type desk having uniquedrawer-locking means which may be readily installed in or detached fromthe desk.

An illustrative embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Fig. 1 is an elevational View of the inner frontportion of a left-hand desk pedestal in which the desk drawers are shownbroken away in part;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of part of the structure shown in Fig. 1,taken along the line 2 -2, and showing a locking mechanism in itsrelationship to a desk drawer and to the knee-hole side member of a deskpedestal; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective of a portion of the structure shown in Figs. 1and 2, and illustrating a locking mechanism in locked position withrespect to a drawer slide and a drawer guide channel.

Considering the invention in its preferred form as applied to a pedestaltype desk, Figs. 1 and 2 show a portion of a desk pedestal housingseveral drawers II, each drawer being provided with slides I2 securelyfastened to the sides thereof, and in slidable contact with andsupported by drawer guide channels I3. Antifriction rollers I4, suitablysecured to a pedestal post I5, are provided to engage the bottom memberof the drawer slides I2 to impart easier slidability thereto.

As shown in Fig. 2, the drawer slides I2 are attached to the sides ofthe drawers II by suitable means such as, for example, welding, as shownat I6, and the drawer guide channels I3 hole. Also, while only onepedestal corner post I5 is shown, it is understood that there ispreferably one such post at each corner of the pedestal and that thedrawer guide channels I3 on each side of the drawers II are secured, asabove described, to a front as well as to a rear pedestal corner post.

Referring now to the elements which are positioned in that part of thepedestal closest to the knee-hole side, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, alatch bar I8 is separably connected to the drawer guides I3 by means ofa shoulder bolt I9 which is rigidly secured to the latch bar I8, andwhich is inserted in a key hole slot 2I blanked out of the drawer guidechannels I3, as shown in the drawings (particularly in Fig. 3). Asreadily seen from the drawings, the latch bar I8 is movable verticallyand is prevented from lateral movement, except in its uppermostposition, by means of the shoulder bolt connection with the drawer guidechannels I3, as described above.

The latch bar I8 is provided with lugs or tongues 22 which are blankedout and offset as m shown, and are positioned on the latch bar to arerigidly secured to the pedestal corner post I5 (only one is shown) bymeans of tabs I'I. As shown in Fig. 1, the tabs are an integral part ofthe drawer guide channels I3, extend into slots formed in the pedestalcorner post I5, and are bent against the corner post sides to provide afirm connection.

While the drawings show the drawer slides I2,

positioned in the other side of the pedestal, i. e.,

that part of the pedestal away from the kneecoact with the drawer guidesI3 and the drawer slides I2 in a manner described below.

The drawer guides I3 and drawer slides I2 are provided with slottedopenings 23 and 24 respectively through their top flanges to receive theaforesaid latch bar tongues. When the latch bar I8 is in its lowermostposition (best shown in Fig. 3), the latch bar tongues 22 pass throughthe aforesaid slots 23 and 24 in the drawer guide channels l3 and thedrawer slides I2 and engaging the forwardly facing shoulders or walls ofthe slots 24 to lock the drawers against outward movement. With thelatch bar I8 in its uppermost position, as shown by the dotted portionof Fig. 2, the latch bar tongues 22 are above the aforesaid slots 23 and24 and the drawer can be moved forwardly as desired.

The upward and downward movement of the latch bar I8 is effected bycorresponding movements of a lock bolt 25, which is a part of a lock 26and which effects contact with the bentover portion of the latch bar asshown in Figs. 2 and 3, As shown in the drawings (particularly Fig. 3),movement of the lock bolt 25 upwardly and downwardly causescorresponding movement of the latch bar I8 and consequential engagementand disengagement of the latch bar tongues 22 with the drawer slides I2and the drawer guides I3.

In order to permit of pre-locking while one or more drawers areextended, there is provided a spring 21 which is connected to and causesa downward pressure on the latch bar 18. The lower end of the spring 21is held in a slot 28 of the spring-holding member 29 and the upper endof the spring is inserted in a slot 3| of the latch bar K8, the latchbar being bent as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. It is readily seen that whenthe drawers H are in an extended position and the latch bar tongues 22are, therefore, not positioned within the slots 23 and 24 in the drawerslides l2 or the drawer guides 13, gravity and the tension on the latchbar 18 due to the spring 21 will cause the latch bar and the latch bartongues 22 to move downwardly into the slots 23 and 24 when the drawersII are closed sufficiently to bring the slots 23 and 2 5 into alignmentwith the latch bar tongues 22. Obviously, the spring 27 may be omitted,if desired, relying on gravity alone for the downward movement.

An important feature of my invention is the positioning of the elementsin the manner shown whereby the lock 26 is mounted on the inner sidewall 32 of the pedestal and is operatively connected to a latch bar itwhich engages drawer slides I2 and drawer guide members 13 adjacent theknee-hole side of the desk. This is made possible by means of the offsetstructure of the latch bar 18 operating to engage the drawer slides l2and the drawer guides E5 on the side of the drawer nearest the inner, orknee-hole, side of the pedestal. The lock 26 is a conventional type oflock having a key-operated bolt 25 which moves upwardly and downwardly,as hereinbefore described. The lock is secured to the inner side wall 32of the pedestal in any suitable way.

After the latch mechanism is installed, the flange '33 of thespring-holding member 29 is bent from its dotted line position to itsfull line position (Figs. 1 and 2) to prevent accidental dislodging ofthe latch bar 18. This retains the latch bar in a position precludingentry of the shoulder bolts l9 into the circular top portions of the keyhole slots 2 1. Obviously, the flange 33 may be bent upwardly to removethe latch bar when necessary or desirable.

Another important feature of my invention is the easy removability ofthe latch bar I8 from its shoulder bolt engagement with the drawerguides 13 for purposes of assembly and disassembly of the desk.

While I have shown and described an embodiment of my invention as partof the left-hand pedestal of a desk, the same general type ofarrangement is, of course, contemplated for the right-hand side of adesk to provide a locking mechanism operatively connected to a lockwhich is mounted on the inner side wall of the right hand pedestal.

Although I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, it isunderstood, of course, that modifications thereof within the scope of myinvention are possible to those skilled in the art, and that myinvention is not to be limited except as required by the appended claim.

I claim:

In a desk or the like, a pedestal, a plurality of vertically spaced,horizontally slidable drawers mounted within the pedestal, each or saiddrawers having a forwardly facing shoulder projecting laterally from thedrawer toward one side of the pedestal, a vertically movable latch baradjacent said shoulders and slidably supported on the pedestal betweensaid drawers and the adjacent portion of the pedestal, said latch barbeing movable between an upper unlatched portion in which all drawersare free to move in and out of the pedestal to a lower latchingposition, means for biasing the latch bar to its lower position. a lockbolt engageable with the latch bar and adapted to positively lift thelatch bar to its raised unlatched position, lugs carried by the latchbar for cooperation with said shoulders and adapted to latch saiddrawers against opening when all drawers have been closed, said lugs andshoulders also cooperating to permit all drawers to be closed aftersupport of the latch bar in its raised position has been removed byretraction of the lock bolt.

CHARLES M. ABRAHAMSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 912,570 Holland Feb. 16, 19091,073,274; Millice Sept. 16, 1913 1,686,194 Wheary et al Oct. 2, 19282,240,067 Bolesky ct al Apr. 26, 1941 Certificate of Correction PatentNo. 2,559,579 July 10, 1951 CHARLES M. ABRAHAMSON It is hereby certifiedthat error appears in the printed specification of the above numberedpatent requiring correction as follows:

Column 4, line 28, before position insert latching;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, sothat the same may conform to the-record of the case in the PatentOfiice. Signed and sealed this 25th day of September, A. D. 1951.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Gommz'saioner of Patents.

